Tags
ark shell, barrier island, beach, coquinas, crescent island, east-west island, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, pen shell, Sanibel Island, Sanibel Island shells, She Sells Sea Shells, shelling, shells, The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
Sanibel Island is known for having some of the best shelling beaches in the whole world.
The location and shape of the island is the main reason for this. It is a barrier island off the coast of Florida several miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Sanibel runs east-west, is crescent shaped, and sits like a shelf, scooping the shells onto its beaches.
It amuses me to see which shells my children like to choose. My son collected what seems like a thousand plain white shells, or ark shells as they are actually called.
My daughter loved pen shells which can look like abalone, and coquinas, those little multi-colored tiny clams. It’s especially fun to see them wash up on the shore and bury into the sand as the tide pulls away. If you grab a handful of wet sand, they tickle your fingers as they try to hide.
When my daughter was a toddler, she would push the shells into the sand with her thumb instead of picking them up!
My personal preference is anything more unusual and harder to find. On Sanibel, you can never take anything that is still alive, only empty shells. It’s amazing to think that every one of them had a living creature inside at some point.
My husband isn’t much for shelling. He did discover however that when floating in an innertube in the shallow ocean, do not drag your hands on the bottom. Shells can cut you. No stitches were necessary, thank goodness.
So now what to do with all these shells?! I see lots of arts & crafts projects in my future.
If you would like to learn more about the shells of Sanibel, here are some links to check out..